Lobby Attendant & Animal Interaction – Often times, folks come into the shelter to look for their lost pet or to interact with our adoptable pets. We need help retrieving animals from kennels for adoption interactions and reunions between lost pets and their owners.
Exercising/Socializing Animals – Both dogs and cats spend a lot of time in their cages and kennels. We need you to help get them out for daily exercises. Dogs are leashed and walked in the back parking lot, and they have a chance to be off leash in our interaction yard. Cats are pulled from their cages and spend time with you in our interaction rooms in the lobby.
Positive Animal Training Program – Along with the exercising, our dogs need to keep their minds focused to help with their adoptions. We encourage positive training with all our dogs that are walked for their mental well-being and socialization.
Writers for AC&C Newsletter – We like to keep the public informed about events and special projects, to highlight our volunteers and staff members, and especially to send out happy news about our adopted animals. We need help in keeping this quarterly newsletter going with happy news and fun facts.
Microchip Clinic Assistance – We try to hold public microchip clinics as often as we can. Jobs include line control, handing out forms for the public to fill out about themselves and their pets, as well as set-up and take down of the clinic.
Cleaning/Disinfecting Kennels – When our kennels and cages get full, we need help keeping our animals healthy through daily cleanings and disinfections of all the cages in the shelter. These steps will prevent illnesses such as Kennel Cough and Upper Repertory Infection (URI) from spreading from animal to animal. Plus, they ensure that animals are not pulled out of adoption into the sick wards where they are out of site of the public.
Animal Feeding - We feed our animals every day, twice a day. We need your help in giving staff a hand, so that every animal is fed within a reasonable amount of time.
Bathing/Grooming Animals – Our animals spend a lot of time in their kennels and cages. We need help in keeping them healthy, clean and in good shape to show off how beautiful they really are with regular baths. Some of our dogs even need a good grooming and shave down to look their best in their kennels.
Fostering Program – Be a critter sitter! Open your home and your heart to our animals that are in need of a nurturing environment for a period of rehabilitation or time to mature. Help save our dogs and cats by joining our fostering team. You must be an approved volunteer with three months of solid volunteer time or an employee of the City of Charlotte before you are eligible for our fostering program. The animals that might need foster care include puppies and kittens that need to mature, heartworm positive dogs, dogs with kennel cough and cats with URI, and dogs and cats that need to get out of their kennels and cages for socialization and training.
Spay/Neuter Clinic Assistance – The second Saturday of every month, Animal Care & Control holds a public spay/neuter clinic in conjunction with a free rabies clinic. Every few months, we hold a second public spay/neuter clinic, and we always need assistance with daily clinics when our shelter animals have their surgeries. We need you to help officers with line and crowd control both outside and in the lobby, conduct public animal check-ins at the clinics, assist with animal recovery in the clinic, wash equipment and make packs, clean the clinic and do laundry during and after discharge.
Rabies Certificate Data Entry – During our free rabies clinics, we need dedicated volunteers who are willing to learn our Chameleon system and help create people and animal IDs, as well as create and print out rabies certificates.
Off-site Adoption Event Assistance – The first Saturday of every month is dedicated to adoption events at South Park Mall. We also have other off-site adoption events that are at different locations throughout the year. We need help gathering supplies before the day of the event, loading and unloading, and putting supplies away after the event. We also need help handling the animals at the event, as well as educating and talking to the public about our shelter, our pets and mission.
Animal Adoption Follow-ups – After our animals are adopted, our follow-up program is a great way to check in on the owners and their new pets to see how they are getting along and help answer questions that arise. We need people to make these phone calls on a weekly basis.
Animal Photographers – We need volunteers who are willing to take pictures of our off-site events, the animals we bring and the joy and excitement. We also need volunteers who are willing to take pictures of our animals in the shelter for our website, so the cats and dogs look their best online.
If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, contact Linda Hagemann at (704) 336-6694.
